Methods and systems for removing or replacing on-keyboard prediction candidates

Abstract

Methods and electronic devices are provided for processing prediction candidates in connection with virtual keyboards and touch-sensitive displays. A display area of the touch-sensitive displays a virtual keyboard. Within the virtual keyboard is a plurality of keys, each of at least some of the keys corresponding to one or more different characters of a plurality of characters. The methods and devices may detect a selection of one or more of the keys. The methods and devices may generate one or more sets of characters based on the one or more characters corresponding to the selected key. The methods and devices may display the sets of characters within or substantially within the virtual keyboard. The methods and devices may detect a gesture associated with one of the displayed sets of characters, and, in response to detecting the gesture, remove the one of the displayed sets of characters from the virtual keyboard.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An input method for an electronic device having a touch-sensitive display and a processor, the method comprising:
 displaying in a display area of the touch-sensitive display a virtual keyboard; 
 displaying within the virtual keyboard a plurality of keys, each of at least some of the keys corresponding to one or more different characters of a plurality of characters; 
 detecting a selection of one or more of the keys; 
 generating a plurality of words based on the one or more characters corresponding to the selected keys; 
 displaying the plurality of words within or substantially within the virtual keyboard, wherein the displayed plurality of words are displayed directly above or overlapping keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words, and the displayed plurality of words are displayed without overlapping displayed characters on the keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words; 
 detecting an erase gesture associated with one of the displayed plurality of words at or near the one of the displayed plurality of words; 
 in response to the erase gesture:
 undisplaying the one of the displayed plurality of words from the virtual keyboard based on the determined completion, wherein at least one other displayed word of the plurality of words is maintained within or substantially within the virtual keyboard after the one of the displayed plurality of words is removed; and 
 displaying a replacement word within the virtual keyboard; and 
 
 during subsequent selections of the one or more keys, omitting display of the one of the plurality of words while displaying remaining words in the plurality of words. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the replacement word has a subsequent candidate input character that is the same as a subsequent candidate input character of the removed word. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the replacement word has a subsequent candidate input character that corresponds to a key that is the same as or adjacent to a key that corresponds to a subsequent candidate input character of the removed word. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 withdrawing the removed word from consideration for being generated subsequent to the removal. 
 
     
     
       5. An electronic device comprising;
 a touch-sensitive display; 
 one or more processors; 
 one or more memories; 
 instructions stored on the one or more memories, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to perform the steps of:
 displaying in a display area of the touch-sensitive display a virtual keyboard; 
 displaying within the virtual keyboard a plurality of keys, each of at least some of the keys corresponding to one or more different characters of a plurality of characters; 
 detecting a selection of one or more of the keys; 
 generating a plurality of words based on the one or more characters corresponding to the selected keys; 
 displaying the plurality of words within or substantially within the virtual keyboard, wherein the displayed plurality of words are displayed directly above or overlapping keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words, and the displayed plurality of words are displayed without overlapping displayed characters on the keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words; 
 detecting an erase gesture associated with one of the displayed plurality of words at or near the one of the displayed plurality of words; 
 in response to the erase gesture:
 undisplaying the one of the displayed plurality of words from the virtual keyboard based on the determined completion, wherein at least one other displayed word of the plurality of words is maintained within or substantially within the virtual keyboard after the one of the displayed plurality of words is removed; and 
 displaying a replacement word within the virtual keyboard; and 
 
 during subsequent selections of the one or more keys, omitting display of the one of the plurality of words while displaying remaining words in the plurality of words. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the replacement word has a subsequent candidate input character that is the same as a subsequent candidate input character of the removed word. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the replacement word has a subsequent candidate input character that corresponds to a key that is the same as or adjacent to a key that corresponds to a subsequent candidate input character of the removed word. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the displayed plurality of words are displayed at or near a keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions stored on the one or more memories, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the electronic device to perform the step of:
 withdrawing the removed plurality of words from consideration for being generated subsequent to the removal. 
 
     
     
       10. An electronic device, comprising:
 a touch-sensitive display; and 
 a processor configured to:
 display in a display area of the touch-sensitive screen a virtual keyboard; 
 display within the virtual keyboard a plurality of keys; 
 display within the display area a viewing pane configured to hold a predetermined amount of text; 
 detect selection of one or more of the keys forming a prefix text portion, the prefix text portion comprising one or more characters; 
 display the prefix text portion in the viewing pane; 
 determine a plurality of words as a function of the prefix text portion; 
 display the plurality of words proximate to selected keys of the virtual keyboard, each selected key being selected based on a first character in each of the displayed plurality of words, wherein the displayed plurality of words are displayed directly above or overlapping keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words, and the displayed plurality of words are displayed without overlapping displayed characters on the keys corresponding to subsequent candidate input characters of the plurality of words; 
 detect an erase gesture associated with one of the plurality of words at or near the one of the displayed plurality of words; and 
 in response to the erase gesture:
 undisplay the one of the plurality of words associated with the gesture from the virtual keyboard based on the determined completion, wherein at least one other displayed word of the plurality of word of the plurality of plurality of words is maintained within or substantially within the virtual keyboard after the one of the displayed one of the potential completion text portions is removed; and 
 display a replacement word within the virtual keyboard; and 
 
 during subsequent selections of the one or more keys, omit display of the one of the plurality of words while displaying remaining words in the plurality of words. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 10 , further comprising a linguistic database, and wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine one or more plurality of words as a function of the prefix text portion, the one or more plurality of words having the prefix text portion as a prefix and being selected from the linguistic database. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the erase gesture is a back-and-forth swipe gesture.